a cappella
by cloudsallaround
Summary: If you're going to bring someone a Christmas ballad, you'd better check if that person spoke English. A Kutau Christmas oneshot.


**a cappella: **If you're going to bring someone a Christmas ballad, you'd better check if that person spoke English.

_X_

By the time Utau had fully convinced herself it was a good idea, shot it down again, picked it back together, tossed it aside again, multiplied this process by something that painfully started to resemble infinity, it was already the twenty-fourth of December.

And she was going to _do this._

The plan was perfect..ish. Or as perfect as it could be with only one accomplice who only had so much insider information; Hinamori Amu. What their plan lacked in infallibility, it made up for in simplicity:

Step one: on Christmas Eve, get to subject's house and find his bedroom window. _Make sure _subject is home.  
Requisites: sketch of house with position bedroom marked, courtesy of Amu.  
Step two: get crackin', successfully wooing subject.  
Requisites: voice.  
Step three: have lovey-dovey Christmas for first time in life. Oh, glorious day!

Overall (pre)requisites: pebbles/small stones (available on location), town map, (figurative) balls.

After wandering around the neighborhood, Utau had finally located the subject's house. Feeling a burst of warmth for her friend, who had pushed the map in her hands with the announcement that Utau's direction sense couldn't be trusted, especially not in time of extreme duress, she spotted the subject's bedroom window, conveniently on the front side of the house. The curtains were drawn, but lights were shining behind them and in the evening dark she could spot soccer balls and figures printed on the fabric, probably from a period of more childish fanatics.

Who was this 'subject', you wonder? The one all this careful planning and brouhaha was about, was none other than Souma Kukai. Yes, damn it, the boy she had bonded with over ramen, the one who still didn't call her by her _given name_.

But it was not the time for frustration about moot points now. She needed to get Step two of Amu's and her awesome plan (coincidentally called the Plan of Awesomeness) going.. starting with Part A: get subject's attention. Here, the stones came in handy, which Kukai's home had enough of with its gravel path. If, some way, she'd run out of stones without him noticing, she could always steal some from the neighbors.

Grabbing a handful, she rolled them over in her hands to rid them of the thin layer of snow. The cold seeped through the fabric of her gloves, reaching and freezing skin. That made for an extra motivation right there: if she didn't do this quickly, she could kiss her fingers goodbye to frostbite.

Utau slung her arm backward, pulling her mirror leg up for a baseball effect, and launched the teeny pebbles against the window. Not all of them hit, but the dozen or so tiny _ping_s should be enough to alert Kukai, prompting him to check out what had caused the clatter.

Sure enough, she didn't have to wait long before the curtains were shoved open and an auburn-haired head appeared, bright eyes searching in the dark.

She threw another handful, just for extra measures, when he opened the window. Judging by his yelp, she was pretty sure she had hit something vital. Still, it was definitely sure that she had gotten his attention.. Thus, the conclusion of Step two, Part A.

"Hey, boy!" she called, and his eyes finally settled on her form, slowly adjusting to the dark. Wide green orbs almost made her stumble backwards, but she held her ground; this was not the time of place to back down.

_Think of your freezing fingers think of your pride think of all the effort think of your damn lonely Christmas!_

"Idol-san?" Kukai replied tentatively, before using a more sure-sounding voice, "Hey! What's up? What'cha doing here, interested in a match on Christmas Eve?"

"Boy! No, Kukai!" Utau pushed through, though her cheeks were red and she had to force herself not to look away. "Please. Listen to my song.."

_Now, close your eyes. And _breathe_. Now let's do this. Let Step two, Part B commence._

"_I don't want a lot for Christmas__  
__There's just one thing I need__  
__I don't care about the presents__  
__Underneath the Christmas tree__  
__I just want you for my own__  
__More than you could ever know__  
__Make my wish come true__  
__All I want for Christmas is...__  
__You"__  
_

To put it nicely, Utau sang her little enamored heart out. As she trailed off the last word, she slowly opened her eyes and focused them seriously on Kukai, who was still staring at her from his bedroom window.

..with the most uncomprehending expression she had ever seen in her entire life.

After her leave of Easter, she and Sanjou-san had worked hard to get Utau signed by a new label, no easy task, as Easter controlled a large part of entertainment industries by either extorting or threatening. A young company, SEED, had recognized her talent and had bravely stood against Easter's impressive influence, making Utau one of their first talents.

With her growing success as a national idol, western countries had also taken an interest in her voice, and as not to lag behind her own concerns, Utau had struggled to get her English up to par with her manager's so she could actively participate in the business meetings with foreign men, who looked chillingly serious in their sharp-cut suits. The first time she had come along with Sanjou-san, it had raised some eyebrows, but she didn't care, and they soon got used to her interferences. She'd had more than enough decisions made for her to last her a lifetime, and she wasn't planning on letting that happening again if she could help it.

So her English had rapidly improved, until she didn't need Sanjou-san's translations anymore to follow the conversation and hold her own in it. It was obvious though, that Kukai had never learned the same things he did. Now that she thought of it, as a second-year student in middle school, she too had had no interest whatsoever in any other language than Japanese or what she could make up on the spot when singing.

Thus, the understandable, albeit unmistakably painful conclusion:

He hadn't understood a word of what she had just said- sung. Whatever. Details weren't really all that important at this point of embarrassment.

And sure enough:

"Eh?"

Mortifying didn't even _begin _to describe it.

This time, she _did _stumble backwards, turning and running even before Kukai could utter half a sentence. The snow crunched under her feet, a sound that she would have thought romantic if she hadn't just _ruined it all_.

No need for Step three, after all. Why hadn't she taken his English skills into account? She _knew_ how bad Amu was at it, so why hadn't she linked that to Kukai, even though he was one year her senior? Stupid. Stupidstupidstupidstupid. She'd go home, make some cocoa with cinnamon and watch some sappy American Christmas movies, as if that had been her plan in the first place.

Or maybe she'd visit some friends. It wasn't as if she hadn't received any party invitations. In fact, she was sure that if she opened the map now, she could find one nearby that she could easily reach on foot. Why had that guy been home anyway? He and the other Guardians were celebrating together on the 25th, that much was true, but couldn't he find anything else to do? It was_ Christmas Eve_, and he was alone in his room!

A hand wrapped around her arm, the feeling muffled by the thick fabric of her coat. With a shriek, Utau swiveled around to ram an elbow in her assaulter's gut.

Fortunately for him, her 'assaulter' had very good instincts. He twisted his body out of the way without letting go of her arm, causing her elbow to hit air.

Utau stared at him. "Kukai." She said softly, looking surprised.

He nodded at her. His shoelaces were untied and the zipper of his coat was undone, and he looked like he'd been running fairly hard for some time. Now that she thought of it, it was kind of funny that their erratic breathing seemed to match.

Kukai seemed to notice that she was planning to make a break for it again, as he side-stepped to stand in front of her. Way. Too. Closely. Utau automatically took a step back. He matched it. He was still holding her arm.

"I'm sorry." He said, looking embarrassed, "For not understanding. English has never been my strongest subject, y'know."

Utau jerked her arm, and he seemed reluctant as he let go. "W-whatever. It's not like.. it matters. Or something. Whatever."

She was being stupid, and she knew it, but her pride didn't allow her to soften up and tell him what she wanted to properly.

"It's not whatever! Idol-san, you wanted to tell me something, but I didn't understand, and it really upset you, and I'm sorry about that! But you shouldn't have ran away!"

Something in Utau's haughty countenance snapped. "Idol-san, _Idol-san_! My name isn't Idol-san, and you know it! I'm sick and tired of hearing you say that!"

Kukai's bare hands warmed her through fabric again, but this time at her fingers. "Utau. Utau-san, Utau-chan, Utau-sama, _Utau-hime_, Utau Utau Utau!" he listed with a stern expression. "There. I _do _know your name. Okay?"

"Okay. Okay." Utau parroted, staring at him in wonder. It wasn't as if she had thought he didn't know her name, she just hadn't expected him to ever use it. It.. sounded _nice_, when he said it. Like something to be treasured, if just a little bit.

And so they stood there, staring at each other in silence with the cold seeping into her and she really should be worrying about frostbite gnawing at her feet because she was like that but _her hands were just so warm_.

"Teach me!" Kukai blurted, breaking the quiet. Utau slightly raised a literally (well, practically) shivering eyebrow in question.  
"Teach me.." he repeated shyly, tugging lightly at the fingers of her glove, until it fell in the snow and their fingers could touch properly, "Teach me the meaning of your song.."

Step two: complete. Step three? About to take off..

**a/n **a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all (;  
I wanted to break the fourth wall so often, _so bad _while writing this, you wouldn't believe.  
Kickin' the SC! bucket now, toodles!  
Loads of love, Hiwiwy


End file.
